The current email system does not allow large messages but this is worth reviewing from Carl from 2005. You should contact Carl for the complete document.
----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Carl Kunath <carl.kun...@cox.net> To: TEXAS CAVERS <Texascavers@texascavers.com> Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 9:41:28 AM Subject: [Texascavers] TSA and the Texas Caver Thoughts on TSA and the Texas Caver The Texas Caver and the Texas Speleological Association (TSA) are linked in many ways. They should be discussed as a unit in most cases. First a perspective on the Texas Caver: The Caver started in October 1955 as a joint venture of the cavers in Austin who were members of the Balcones grotto and the University Of Texas Grotto. It was informal. There was no TSA at that time. Later in the year, Texas cavers would organize and affiliate with the NSS through a tenuous arrangement known as “regions.” This gave them a small voice in the NSS. The Caver was available to anyone, regardless of affiliation or the lack thereof. It was not supported by any organization. When the NSS ended the “region” structure in 1960, Texas cavers organized themselves as the TSA, the organization that endures today with but minor changes. Still, there was no official support for the Caver. It was designated as “the official voice of TSA” but received no financial support or direction from TSA. For the first four years (1961-1964), James Estes as editor, and others of the original Abilene Grotto produced a Texas Caver monthly and on time. This was in the days when it was all done with a typewriter, scissors, film negatives, layout guides, etc. The Caver went to Pete Lindsley and the Dallas-Ft. Worth Grotto members for 1965-1966 and was still produced monthly and mostly on time. In 1967, the Caver returned to Abilene with George Gray as editor. All was well for a year and then in 1968, production lagged and by 1969 had stalled and was several months behind. This ended a seven or eight year run of regular, on-time Texas Cavers during which the TSA had flourished. After some ill-humored negotiation, the Caver resumed production in San Angelo with Carl Kunath as editor and the missing issues for 1969 were by-passed. The Caver was again monthly and on time. The missing issues for 1969 were eventually produced during 1970 by ad-hoc editor James Estes. The Caver was then passed to a new editor each year for the next five years and all went well for the most part. Mike Moody had a few late issues in 1972 but the Caver was still timely enough to serve as a newsletter. Ronnie Fieseler (1971), Mike Moody (1972), Glenn Darilek (1973), Ken Griffin (1974), and James Jasek (1975) all served well and took their responsibilities seriously. In 1976 Gil Ediger took over the Caver and did alright for a year despite some rather extreme editorial license. The September, October, November, and December issues totaled only 73 pages including a marvelous eight-page index compiled by Carmen Soileau. Ediger promised to do better in 1977 but by mid-year, James Jasek stepped in to edit the July issue and thelast five issues for 1977 were not completed until 1980 with Chuck Stuehm as “guest” editor. There were a total of eight issues produced for the year (only seven somewhat timely) and this, in many ways, marks the beginning of the end for the Texas Caver as it was originally conceived and the start of nearly 30 years of late, combined, and leap-froging issues. From this time forward, the Caver ceased to function as a newsletter for no more than six issues were produced in any single calendar year. Take note: All these years, the Caver was still not directly supported by TSA. You could be a member of TSA without a Caver subscription, or be a Caver subscriber and not a member of TSA—a curious situation indeed. In 1981, TSA finally voted to make the Caver an integral part of the organization and to mingle the finances. That’s nice but it probably came 20 years too late. And TSA? In February 1977, TSA had cash assets of $154.66. And how did the TSA members view the situation?
